Pages

the latest...

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

MONSOON 2016 officially declared... (am.22.jun.16)>

Tuesday's stats:Low temp: 65.1F (18.4C)High temp: 75.6F (24.2C)Rainfall: traceAvg humidity: 76%Last evening, the India Met Department took that monsoon onset line and dragged it all the way northwestward to the India-Pak border near Pathankot. That means nearly all of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are now officially included in Monsoon 2016, with western Uttar Pradesh, extreme northwestern Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat yet to receive the official monsoon onset declaration. The IMD offers no rationale behind their decision to make such a dramatic move -- but they have certain criteria they use every year that goes beyond rainfall totals. Speaking of which, we've had just barely over a half inch (1.2cm) of rain in the last three days.Despite our less than impressive rainfall amounts the last few days, humidity remains very high -- fluctuating between around 70% and well over 90% on most days recently. This morning at dawn it stands at 79%, with partly cloudy and rather hazy skies.So it's officially monsoon -- slightly less than a week earlier than the normal onset date in our area. Periods of rain and thunder can occur anytime, so if you're like me, the time you decide to leave the umbrella at home is the time when a healthy downpour will occur...